Liverpool genre-mashers Exploring Birdsong's debut is uplifting, unique and dated all at once
In the modern, exponentially expanding pantheon of rock-adjacent music, it becomes ever harder to pin labels on acts. Enter Exploring Birdsong, the cinematic Merseyside trio who use rich melodies, era-hopping keys and sparse breakdowns to create a sound that feels familiar and fresh at the same time.
This debut album opens in fine fashion with piano-led ballad Archipelago, which is sumptuously put together, and vocalist Lynsey Ward shows off her talent with some stunning vocal runs and embellishments. It’s delicate and intricate, but backed up with a dense and robust rhythm section to create a listening experience akin to watching lightning strikes from a safe distance. Later on, I_You scratches a similar itch with added strings which brings an air of Bridgerton to proceedings, while keeping the core elements so uniquely distinctive.
There’s also a healthy dose of shimmering synth-pop, particularly through the first half of the record. Romaticise is a neon blast lifted straight from 1986 before devolving into the album’s heaviest breakdown and evokes the kind of whiplash-inducing genre switches that made Sleep Token sudden titans. Meanwhile, latest single Spy In The House of Love ditches a Celtic-inspired opening for the kind of musical blancmange that might soundtrack a 35-year old workplace safety video. Fortunately, the track is rescued by a phenomenally catchy chorus that will stick with listeners for a long time to come.
Where Exploring Birdsong really thrive, though, is when they get a bit darker with the sound, like on The Warning and You Like It Best When It Hurts. Gothic melodrama is the order du jour here that is all Creeper and Siouxsie And The Banshees, and is the material that really allows the album’s lyrical theme of building relationships in life shines brightest. ‘Give me reason to stay / you’re slipping away from me’ is a resonant gut punch that’s tough to forget.
All told, Exploring Birdsong is clearly on to something. Rock fans will be hard pressed to find anything else this year that sounds like this, even though there’s a lot about the trio that is reminiscent of other acts. Individually, the songs are mostly wonderful, but as a full product, Every House We Built leaves something to be desired. The foundations are sound, and the house is coming together nicely.
Verdict: 3/5
For fans of: Sleep Token, Einar Solberg, Arcane Roots
Every House We Built is out now via Long Branch
